Republican U.S. Senate candidate Scott Brown said voters should carefully weigh his stances on all issues before making up their minds about who to vote for in the Sept. 9 primary and the general election in November.

In an interview at The Citizen of Laconia offices Monday, Brown said he's ready to roll up his sleeves and go to work representing all residents of New Hampshire.

"I want to be known as an honest, hard-working, independent servant of this state," Brown said. "I'd like to be seen as someone who puts partisan politics aside to solve problems."

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"I'm most proud of putting our country first," Brown said. "I'm an American first and put country before partisanship."

Brown said he differs fundamentally with Shaheen about a bevy of issues, including the Affordable Care Act, finding funding to rebuild New Hampshire's crumbling roads and bridges, luring new high-technology industries to the state, and the treatment of veterans.

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The top issue in the campaign is the Affordable Care Act, according to Brown.

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As a recently retired Army National Guard colonel, Brown said he stands with veterans and believes in living up to what has been promised to them for their service defending the nation, including proper access to health care facilities and to be treated fairly.

"We need to put veterans first," he said. "What I propose is to let veterans get help immediately by granting them access to receive private care and processing claims faster. This is perhaps the most important issue affecting our state today because we have so many veterans here and more on the way. We need to be proactive."